Waterworks’ SAP-GIS Integration
Charlene Sevier and Marietta Washington
Newport News Waterworks
© 2008 Eventure Events. All rights reserved.
Background
• Waterworks had silos of
information.
– Customer and Billing information
– GIS data
• There was redundancy and often
duplication of effort.
• Work processes would be improved
by integrating systems
• GIS was at the tail-end of most
business processes
Overall Vision
• The Waterworks Information Technology Division
is tasked to upgrade all major systems.
• The division will strive to increase efficiency and
productivity while guiding investments in
technology to meet the growing business needs
of Newport News Waterworks and our service
community.
The Customer Information System
• In July 2007 Waterworks went live with SAP CIS
• GIS was integrated with SAP as part of the
project
Geographic
Information
System
CIS
Customer and Consumption
Data
CIS-GIS Integration Scope of Work
• Business Strategy Summary
The project included integration of its SAP Industry
Solution for Utilities and ESRI’s ArcGIS Server
Technology to produce a near-time exchange of
customer related information between SAP and GIS.
The effort included strategic visioning for GIS over the
longer term, system architecture design, and
application design and development.
SAP-GIS Integration Scope of Work
• Business Process Involved
– Customer reps are using maps to
improve customer service and provide
problem resolution more quickly
– Dispatchers are better informed of
customer issues and better informed in
the field
– New device locations are automatically
being created in GIS. Customer wants
service at a new address, the system
takes address and creates X/Y point
and automatically draws on a map.
– Engineering uses the data to track
consumption and plot high demand
SAP – GIS Integration Components
Components of the Integration
Integrated Map
SAP to GIS
A fully interactive map triggered
from within the SAP CRM GUI
An outbound transfer of new
supply points / service locations
GIS to SAP
Nightly Synchronization
Geographically allocated
attributes such as meter reading
routes, cross streets and zip
codes are sent to SAP
Transfer of customer, metering,
service line and consumption
Information from SAP to GIS
The Integrated Map
A map window was added to the SAP 80% screen
that displays
– Water utility features (pipes, laterals, hydrants, valves,
and meter locations)
– Water quality service order locations
– Planned activity area
– General information (roads, buildings, etc.)
The Integrated Map
The Integrated Map
Viewing GIS Data in SAP
Select the
Identify tool
see the
combination of
SAP and GIS
attributes for
service
locations.
The Integrated Map
Viewing Water Quality Concern Details
This identifies a
location where a
service order has
been created in
SAP.
Water Quality Activity is updated on the map as it is
entered in SAP
The Integrated Map
Viewing Planned and Unplanned Field Activity
The map provides a way to show areas of activity
such as
– Pipe Breaks
– Hydrant Maintenance
– Planned Improvements
Requirements for the Interactive Map
– SAP IS-U/CCS
– Uses ArcGIS Server 9.2
– ArcGIS 9.2
– SQL Server 2005
.
.
.
SAP
– Messaging Gateway
– Messaging Web Service
– XI
SAP – GIS Integration Components
Components of the Integration
Integrated Map
SAP to GIS
A fully interactive map triggered
from within the SAP CRM GUI
An outbound transfer of new
supply points / service locations
Process view – Example
‘Create Locations’ for Non-Individuals
Technical
Master Data
created in
SAP
Service
location data
sent to GIS
via XI
GIS system
moves data
to a holding
table
GIS system
merges point
from AutoCAD
with data from
SAP
Planned
service
location added
to design in
AutoCAD
SAP
GIS Team
confirms
location
Temporary
point placed
on the map
XI
GIS infrastructure
AutoCAD
Location
data is
sent to
SAP via
XI
Process view – Example
‘Create Functional Location’ for Individuals
User
creates
TMD for
new
service
in SAP
Service
location
details
sent to
GIS via XI
GIS
processes
inbound
record
from XI
Address
details for match
the service
location are
geocoded
No
match
Record is
stored in a
temporary
table
SAP
XI
Temporary
point
placed on
the map
GIS team
confirms
location
GIS team
adds
point to
the map
GIS infrastructure
Location
data sent
to SAP
via XI
Requirements for the SAP to GIS
Transfers
– SAP CIS (IS-U/CCS)
– ArcGIS 9.2
– SQL Server 2005
– Messaging Gateway
.
.
.
SAP
– XI
SAP – GIS Integration Components
Components of the Integration
Integrated Map
SAP to GIS
A fully interactive map triggered
from within the SAP CRM GUI
An outbound transfer of new
supply points / service locations
GIS to SAP
Geographically allocated
attributes such as meter reading
routes, cross streets and zip
codes are sent to SAP
GIS Updates SAP
• Customized Editing Tools
• When GIS confirms a location the map grid, zip
code and meter reading route are sent to SAP
• When the cross street is added or updated it is
sent to SAP
• New tools created to associated table records
with the correct point
GIS Updates SAP
Updating Meter Reading Routes
GIS assigns meter reading routes
GIS to SAP Requirements
– Custom Code
– ArcGIS 9.2
– SQL Server 2005
.
.
.
SAP
– Messaging
Gateway
– Messaging Web
Service
– XI
SAP – GIS Integration Components
Components of the Integration
Integrated Map
SAP to GIS
A fully interactive map triggered
from within the SAP CRM GUI
An outbound transfer of new
supply points / service locations
GIS to SAP
Nightly Synchronization
Geographically allocated
attributes such as meter reading
routes, cross streets and zip
codes are sent to SAP
Transfer of customer, metering,
service line and consumption
Information from SAP to GIS
Nightly Synchronization
• The nightly process sends updated attributes to
GIS including
– Move-in and move-outs
– Meter changes
– Consumption information
– Data is sent using XI and written to a holding table
Nightly Synchronization Requirements
– Uses ArcGIS
Server 9.1
– ArcGIS 9.1
– SQL Server 200X
.
.
.
SAP
– XI
Network Infrastructure
• GIS operations hosted at
Waterworks
• SAP functionality being
hosted offsite
• For the SAP MapIt
functionality there are two
transports through the
network for the SAP user to
retrieve the map image
Newport News Waterworks Benefits
• The amount of time it takes to update the GIS
with confirmed service locations has been
reduced to less than 1/3 of the time it took in the
past.
• By providing high performance real-time and
batch links between the two systems, data
integrity is ensured and both systems offer
enhanced capabilites for end-users, delivering
critical operation information (such as outages
and networks issues) rapidly throughout the
organization
Newport News Waterworks Benefits
• Customer Service Representatives use the
integrated map to see the locations of water
quality complaints or if a customer lives in an
area where there is planned activity
• Dispatchers use the integrated map to quickly
determine which map page and grid a service
location is in
Newport News Waterworks Benefits
• The Meter Shop and Meter Reading use it to
assist with planning
• Casual users get a frame of reference for the
location of a customer or meter
• All users benefit from up-to-date information in
the context of other information about the
account
Charlene Sevier
csevier@nngov.com
Marietta Washington
mvwashington@nngov.com
© 2008 Eventure Events. All rights reserved.